Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | F465-F471 |
| Journal | Journal of the Electrochemical Society |
| Volume | 166 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| Publication status | Published - 25 Apr 2019 |
Abstract
An important challenge for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolysis is to reduce the permeation of the produced gases. This crossover affects the cell efficiency and causes safety issues. The crossover increases with current density, most probably due to mass transfer resistances. This work aims to investigate the influence of the cathode ionomer content on hydrogen crossover. Therefore, the ionomer content was varied between 10 and 40 wt% to clearly influence the mass transfer resistances. The best performance and lowest crossover was obtained for 10 wt% ionomer. However, within the observed ionomer range the mass transfer resistances increase with ionomer content that cause increases in hydrogen crossover and cell voltage. Both can be entirely explained by the same quantity of supersaturated dissolved hydrogen concentrations. These supersaturated concentrations cause higher cathode half-cell potentials, which explain the cell voltage increase and lead to higher concentration gradients across the membrane, which enhance the crossover. These findings highlight the importance of mass transfer resistances within catalyst layers in terms of crossover and performance. They constitute an important step in the clarification of the complex interplay between mass transport and voltage losses, enabling the development of novel electrode architectures for PEM water electrolyzers.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Materials Science(all)
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Energy(all)
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Materials Science(all)
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films
- Chemistry(all)
- Electrochemistry
- Materials Science(all)
- Materials Chemistry
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 166, No. 8, 25.04.2019, p. F465-F471.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Elucidating the effect of mass transport resistances on hydrogen crossover and cell performance in PEM water electrolyzers by varying the cathode ionomer content
AU - Trinke, Patrick
AU - Keeley, G. P.
AU - Carmo, M.
AU - Bensmann, Boris
AU - Hanke-Rauschenbach, Richard
N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank Daniel Holtz for developing and performing the CCM fabrication method, and Andreas Everwand for performing SEM/EDS measurements, and Michel Süermann and Chrstioph Immerz for fruitful discussions. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany in the framework of PowerMEE (project number 03SF0536B).
PY - 2019/4/25
Y1 - 2019/4/25
N2 - An important challenge for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolysis is to reduce the permeation of the produced gases. This crossover affects the cell efficiency and causes safety issues. The crossover increases with current density, most probably due to mass transfer resistances. This work aims to investigate the influence of the cathode ionomer content on hydrogen crossover. Therefore, the ionomer content was varied between 10 and 40 wt% to clearly influence the mass transfer resistances. The best performance and lowest crossover was obtained for 10 wt% ionomer. However, within the observed ionomer range the mass transfer resistances increase with ionomer content that cause increases in hydrogen crossover and cell voltage. Both can be entirely explained by the same quantity of supersaturated dissolved hydrogen concentrations. These supersaturated concentrations cause higher cathode half-cell potentials, which explain the cell voltage increase and lead to higher concentration gradients across the membrane, which enhance the crossover. These findings highlight the importance of mass transfer resistances within catalyst layers in terms of crossover and performance. They constitute an important step in the clarification of the complex interplay between mass transport and voltage losses, enabling the development of novel electrode architectures for PEM water electrolyzers.
AB - An important challenge for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolysis is to reduce the permeation of the produced gases. This crossover affects the cell efficiency and causes safety issues. The crossover increases with current density, most probably due to mass transfer resistances. This work aims to investigate the influence of the cathode ionomer content on hydrogen crossover. Therefore, the ionomer content was varied between 10 and 40 wt% to clearly influence the mass transfer resistances. The best performance and lowest crossover was obtained for 10 wt% ionomer. However, within the observed ionomer range the mass transfer resistances increase with ionomer content that cause increases in hydrogen crossover and cell voltage. Both can be entirely explained by the same quantity of supersaturated dissolved hydrogen concentrations. These supersaturated concentrations cause higher cathode half-cell potentials, which explain the cell voltage increase and lead to higher concentration gradients across the membrane, which enhance the crossover. These findings highlight the importance of mass transfer resistances within catalyst layers in terms of crossover and performance. They constitute an important step in the clarification of the complex interplay between mass transport and voltage losses, enabling the development of novel electrode architectures for PEM water electrolyzers.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064993173&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1149/2.0171908jes
DO - 10.1149/2.0171908jes
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85064993173
VL - 166
SP - F465-F471
JO - Journal of the Electrochemical Society
JF - Journal of the Electrochemical Society
SN - 0013-4651
IS - 8
ER -